White Phantom

Chapter 6: Preparation

Salty air and warm breezes drifted over them as the morning sun rose over the hills. Chad was the first to stir. He opened his eyes and saw that Luna and Alcrolyie were still sleeping peacefully. Their faces were calm and they looked as if they were dreaming. Chad didn't have the heart to wake them so he stood up and stretched his arms to the sky, sending a small gust of air with his magic. Waves rolled in and out from the beach, giving Chad a sense of calm. The sunrise painted the sky with beautiful colors of blues, pinks, and oranges. Bringing his arms down to his sides, he let out a long sigh. Scenery like this makes me forget about the evil in the world, Chad thought to himself, I wonder what the day will bring. 

 Stirring behind him, Alcrolyie began to wake.

 "Oh! Good morning, I didn't think you were up." He said shockingly. 

 "Morning," she said softly, "how did you sleep?" 

 "As well as I could," he chuckled, "and you?" 

 "Same. As best as I could." 

 "How are you feeling?" 

 She moved her arm and winced a little, "guess I could use some more healing," she laughed.

 "How is the rest of you?" He smiled. 

 "Fine. A bit sore like after you exercise, but fine." She giggled. Chad was glad she was okay, but he was still concerned about her. In this state, she just looked so fragile and vulnerable. In the light, he was actually able to get a better look at what she really looked like. Her auburn hair flowed down to her waist and light bangs covered her forehead. Hazel eyes stared at him with a light of life emanating from them. Her skin was light and fair, and her lips were perfectly... Chad shook his head, getting his mind off, whatever that feeling was. 

 "What's wrong?" Alcrolyie asked. 

 "No..nothing." He stammered, his cheeks becoming flushed with red. 

 Alcrolyie giggled and gave him a caring look. Behind them Luna was beginning to wake up.

 "Good morning Luna," Chad said, changing the subject, "how'd you sleep?"

 "Fairly well," she said yawning, "how about you two?" 

 "Good," Chad said quickly. 

 "As good as I could." Alcrolyie said.

 "I'm glad to hear it," Luna said as she sat up. Her luscious purple hair fell only to her chin and thick bangs covered her forehead. Her maroon eyes stood out in a crowd, but Luna loved being different from everyone else. Her skin was also fair, but she wore turtlenecks and long sleeves to cover herself up. She wasn't that fond of getting sunburned. Luna looked to Chad and began, "Well, as you know we're pretty far from home. Even with your wind magic it still took us four days to reach Zebsnun's castle."

 "Yeah but that was only with the two of us. I could barely make it twenty minutes with you on my back, I could probably only make it half that time with both of you."

 "Yes, this is precisely why we need to come up with a way to get us back to Forêt without using too much magic." Luna said. 

 Chad rubbed his head, trying to think of a way to get back to Forêt... but he couldn't think of anything besides his air magic or Luna's teleportation spell. Both would make them too tired to even move... 

 Alcrolyie interrupted his thoughts, "What about transportation magic?" 

 Luna's eyes widened, "I'd nearly forgotten about that, but the only problem is that we don't have anything here to cast it on."